Beets and Berries Smoothie

I am not going to pretend that this won’t be a hard one to sell. After all, I am about to tell you to throw a raw beet into your blender and turn it into a smoothie. Berries – no problem. Most likely, they are already the basic ingredient in your smoothies. Same for bananas. But beets? Not so much.

MY STORY

So here it goes. Let me tell you why I love this smoothie so much, that I decided to share it here with you. When I was 10 or 11 years old, I was diagnosed with anemia. I was battling migraines and headaches almost daily. I was pale and pretty weak. I often had nose-bleeds and colds. If you know someone who is battling anemia, you know they are most likely not a cheery person either. Maybe even depressed. (Back then, I didn’t think these two were connected.) I was always an over-worrier, expecting bad things to happen. A downer to say the least. Not a good combination when you are 10 and trying to make friendships.

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My grandmother was always into homemade remedies, rarely would I see her taking medicine, even for simple headaches. As soon as we were told I had anemia, she immediately started making juices for me. I can still remember her in her kitchen, packing her juicing machine with apples, carrots, pears… and beets. The juice never tasted good. I remember crying because I didn’t want to drink it. But my grandmother and my mother were firm on it and I was drinking the veggie and fruit concoctions everyday. Since that time also, blood tests became a standard of my checkups. Eventually, the tests came back better and better and I didn’t have to drink the juices everyday. I started to feel better.

Fast forward to my early twenties and my college years. High-stress, new city, new people, poor diet – and my anemia symptoms started to come back. Each semester break, I would go home and revitalize. I started to learn more about good foods and my interest in cooking was growing. Right after college, I met my future Hubby. But it wasn’t until my first pregnancy and a blood test, when the anemia word came back from my doctor. The iron levels were low and it had to be fixed. I added iron vitamins to my daily prenatal pill. More veggies were added to my diet. That all seemed to help. During my second pregnancy, I wasn’t waiting for the test results. The iron vitamin pill and veggies were already on my daily list. During my third pregnancy, I was the healthiest. But now my youngest is three years old. I am raising three kids, homeschool and run this blog. I have to admit, I let myself go. For the last year or so, I started feeling the anemia symptoms again. I would blame it on turning 30 – just ask my Husband. Being the foodie that I am now, I started looking for a solution in food. And that’s how I came back to beets.

THE BENEFITS

All of my research shows that beets are the answer to my blood problems. They purify the blood, cleanse the liver, lower blood pressure and are proven to reverse hypertension. Beets improve your blood flow, help deliver oxygen to the parts of your body that need it, including the brain. They are the sweet vegetable that is low in calories but high in good carbs and gives you the right kind of energy. They are rich in folate, Vitamin C, Vitamin B, copper, iron, magnesium, manganese, phosphorus and potassium. They replenish iron in your body, which for me is really important. It’s rich in anti-oxidants that help fight cancer and reduce inflammation. I even found out that betaine from beets aids depression and the trytophan relaxes mind just like chocolate!

OUR EXPERIENCE

We have been drinking this smoothie every day for a couple of months now and we see and feel the benefits. We can definitely feel the good energy that we get after the smoothie. My check up is coming up and I have a feeling that my level of iron will be great! I also started making more veggie smoothies for us and the kiddos. I think once you make one healthy decision – others follow because you learn.

You may be thinking that this all sounds great but it’s hard for you to see yourself chugging on beet juice. And I totally understand! That’s why I created a concoction that is super simple (only 3 ingredients) but makes this smoothie absolutely delicious! The berries and bananas help to mask the earthy taste of beets. For a week, my Hubby and I would do daily shots of straight beet juice and it wasn’t pretty. He would always reach for water or fruit juice to wash it down. So I decided to mix the fresh beet juice with sweet strawberries (you can also use a mix of frozen berries for a more frothy drink) and a banana (a staple in our diet) and I took the hard-to-swollow beet juice to a sweet and enjoyable smoothie that everyone in our family loves. Even our kiddos! And they know there are beets in it!

There was also something I didn’t expect to see. One day, after washing off my make up, I noticed that there was no (normal for me) difference in tones of my skin. I actually looked like I still had my makeup on! My skin had a healthy, glowing look! And it wasn’t just me! My Hubby, that has been my partner in the beet juice/smoothie diet – said the same thing about his skin. But even that’s not all! During his checkup, the nurse asked him if he golfs because he looks so tan. Call me crazy, but I believe that the beets or more accurately – betanin, the red pigment in beets – is the source of this change. Now, that the sunny warm weather season is almost here, I believe it will help with getting the gorgeous tan that we love!

One note about this smoothie: my Hubby has texture issues and he will never drink orange juice with pulp. To make this smoothie really smooth – I place chunks of a fresh beet into a blender (I also often add carrots) and a little bit of water and blend it on high speed in my blender. Then I strain the mixture to separate the pulp. You can discard it but as I do not mind the pulp, I throw it into my smoothie. I suggest starting with half of a beet and then go to a whole beet root.

I do need ideas on what to do with the greens. Right now, I discard them but I feel like it’s such a waste of food so I would love any suggestions on what to do with them!

If using fresh beet root: place beet chunks and water (and carrots, if using) in a blender and blend until pureed. Strain the mixture over a fine mesh strainer, gently pressing the mixture to extract as much juice as possible. Wash the blender. Discard the pulp. Return the beet juice into the blender.

Add berries and banana and blend until smooth.

Serve immediately.

I am obsessed with this smoothie! If you have any questions about it, feel free to leave a comment or email me!

Do you have any suggestions or ideas on what to do with the beet greens? I would love for you to share them! I need them!

Reader Interactions

Comments

Mmm…… Beet greens are my favourite!! Turnip greens and then collard greens are right behind. :).

I sauté beet greens with garlic to make a tasty side dish.

Growing up we were always told that they are very good for you and would help us grow strong. When we were young ladies we were told about the fertility benefits and aphrodisiac properties of beets and their greens. I don’t know if it’s true but it’s a tip as old as time around my parts.

i love 1/4 beet with 3 apples. The energy I have when I drink this is great, so much that I have to drink it first thing in the morning otherwise I can’t sleep, it’s the same effect as coffee but better. I am not afraid of beets in juice, just not all alone. Thanks.

I have been boiling my beets before “smoothing” them, but now I will definitely try raw! As for the leaves, I love adding raw kale to my morning smoothy. I often run out and turn to my beet leaves as a alternative. Delicious!

OK, so I am not a beet lover, but tried this today. First pureed 1/2 root beet in the blender and pressed in strainer to get the juice then added all other ingredients and blended. This tasted awesome, maybe too awesome?? So I decided to go for it and added all the puree/pulp into the Vitamix and a few more strawberries. This tasted a little earthy for a first timer like me. Somewhere in the middle would make me want to drink every day. Thanks for sharing, would have never tried a beet smoothie without your story!

This makes me so happy, Amy! I don’t usually get so personal on my blog and I am blown away by the response. It means so much! Thank you for trying the smoothie and for coming back to leave the comment. You made my day!

WOW I never knew that beets were so good for you! On the plus side my guy loves beets too, and I am planting candy cane beets in my garden this year. He had extremely high blood pressure, and I suffer from pernicious anemia so this would be a great thing for us to do too. Hopefully I can get him to try one. If not, at least I know that cooking more beets will be good for us both.

this recipe literally popped into my Pinterest feed at the perfect time. My daughter wanted a “pink” pop (what we call our homemade Popsicles) and I immediately thought of beets. I always try to add some vegetables to the mixture for added vitamins. Wasn’t sure how I was going to prepare the beet so glad I saw you using it raw. Io always use our leftover smoothie mixtures for the pops! Thanks again and look forward to trying.

Anna, thanks so much for sharing your story!! I had no idea you had three kids, and homeschooled them!!!! Wow! and hey, more and more I am learning the effects food has on us. . good and bad. . so bring on the beet juice!! You got me when you mentioned the difference in skin tone!! I need this smoothie! Totally making this!!!

Thanks for sharing your story, Anna. I have low blood pressure and low iron levels, which makes me feel tired a lot (plus my high stress job, blech). If you say that beets have made a huge different to the lives of you and your husband, I say “sign me up!” I love how simple and delicious this juice is. I adore beets but don’t eat them that often. I’m going to start making this juice and cooking more beets!

I am so glad you are feeling better Anna! As women and especially mothers, we always put ourselves last on the list. I was the healthiest during my pregnancies because it was all about taking care of the baby and not so much me. Taking care of our bodies is important because we are the machine the runs our home. This juice sounds great and I like that you strained the beat pulp first. I like smooth juices… so that works for me. 🙂

Good for you taking a proactive approach to living your best life. It really is amazing how powerful the foods we eat are and how making a few simply changes to our diet can really improve our quality of life. I want a sip of this right now!

I almost clicked away when I saw beets but I was intrigued enough to keep reading & I think you’ve convinced me to try this out! I’ve struggled with anemia too and never thought to try beets… Here goes!

I don’t know if I could get past the earthy flavor of the beets–They taste like dirt to me! The smoothie looks gorgeous, though, and I have a juicer I don’t use nearly enough. I might (might being the key word here) give it a try. As for the greens, I believe you can sautee them, so you wouldn’t have to toss them out.

I totally understand, Rachel! I tested this smoothie on my Hubby at first since he has a strong palate and he had a hard time with the pure beet juice but he really enjoys this smoothie! The addition of strawberries and banana really masks the earthy/dirty flavor so well! You can use more berries (even double – they are good for you after all!) and decrease the amount every day just a little bit and see how you like it. I hope you will give it a try and if you do – please, let me know what you think! Thank you for the suggestion for the greens – trying it for sure!

Thanks for the recipe! My mom just gave me 3 beets fresh from her garden, and I was wondering what to do with them! Just so you know, beet leaves are totally edible and delicious. A quick stir fry with olive oil and garlic and you have a great side dish.